I found Strix conspiring with Cossus and a few ghosts I didn’t recognize.

“Strix. Meeting, now. I don’t care who you bring.”

I walked off and found a wide open, circular area to wait. It didn’t take long for the two Consuls and my two companions to join me.

“The third path. What is it, Strix?”

Her face paled, which was impressive for a ghost. “How do you- Caligula. She’s been talking to you.”

The others looked confused, even Cossus. I smirked. “You’ve been keeping secrets, First Consul. From all of us, it seems. Now spill.”

Everyone turned to her for answers, and Strix clenched her fists. “That is not information you need to know.”

“Bullshit. There’s been a shortcut all this time and you kept it from us. Kept it from me. No more hiding, Strix. No more secrets. Tell them about the third path.” Strix just turned away from us and stood still.

Cossus furrowed his brow. “Why does that sound familiar? And that name, too. Caligula. I should know this. Damn Nero, and damn this frail form.”

I pointed at Strix and my voice rose. “Lies after lies after lies. About your identity, about your cause, and about power. I could have killed Nero days ago if you hadn’t been so obsessed with your little politics game. You are a coward, Strix.”

She whirled on me and shouted, “I am the only one thinking clearly! That creature is a monster, and if you learn from her you will be a monster too. Her magic is wrong, Valerian. It is darkness. It is chaos. The third path leads only to destruction and misery, to terrors worse than Nero can conjure up.”

Cossus snapped his fingers and said, “I’ve got it!” Then his face darkened. “Ah. I see.”

Duncan and Finn looked at each other. “We still don’t.”

I waved my hand in their direction. “Fill them in.”

Cossus hesitated, but Strix wasn’t talking. “Caligula was a warlock, a very powerful warlock with very dangerous ideas. Years ago – before my time, before Nero’s time – she attempted a coup. She had this cabal of warlocks who had learned a forbidden art from her, a dark magic that let them drain vitality, survive mortal wounds, and… devour ghosts.

“Caligula was crafty. Her coup failed, but she retreated to the catacombs beneath the city. She wrapped herself in ritual after ritual, knowing that imperial soldiers would come for her. She slaughtered dozens, close to a hundred soldiers before they finally killed her. In death, she was still dangerous, and so the empire’s most skilled mages sealed her away. Trapped in her own catacombs lair for all time.”

I smiled without teeth. “Don’t you see? The power she wielded, the power she still wields, it can be mine. I could finally harm ghosts, take their strength for my own. No more proxy wars, no more spectral soldiers. Just me, my magic, and Nero’s little fortress.”

Strix made another outburst. “Caligula is evil! Her power is dark, and corrupt, and it will consume you. Power like that, quick and cheap and easy, it has too many negatives, too many risks. Caligula idolized strength, but it isn’t worth the high price. You’re making a huge mistake, Valerian.”

“How do you know that? How do you know so much about her?”

I struck a nerve. She blustered, “It doesn’t matter. What matters-”

“The two of you have history. What history, Strix? What offer did Caligula make you? Or did she deny you? Is that why you hate her?”

Strix stalked toward me, rage creeping into her movements. “She did not deny me. She begged to make me her apprentice, to teach me dark and terrible things. Caligula wanted an heir, but I saw through her lies, her insane ideology. I took the better path, and I helped build the empire into something glorious, until people like her cost us everything!”

I sneered. “And here you are. A ghost. A powerless ghost, too. You disgust me. You could have had power, real power, but you traded it for what? A few political allies? Your precious Triumvirate? Don’t act like you’re better than me, you deceitful, treacherous snake.”

I gestured at our onlookers. Cossus looked worried, Finn wary, and Duncan disturbed.

“They can see it. So why can’t you? Just cut the bullshit and admit you don’t have a choice. If you want Nero off his throne, you’re going to have to play this my way. And that means working with Caligula.”

Strix slumped. She exhaled, and nothing came out. She leaned against a wall, head in her hands.

Duncan looked between us. “Gwyn, are you sure about this?”

“More than anything.”

Cossus wrung his hands. “Well, this is all a bit of a mess. Why did you keep this from us, Bellistrix? We were your closest allies. We were your friends. Did Caria know?”

Strix’s voice came out clear despite her hands obscuring her mouth. “No. I alone bore the burden of that knowledge. You don’t understand, old friend. You never saw her. You never saw what she was capable of. I did.”

“Why? How?”

“I… I was young, and foolish. I wanted an easy path to power. I wanted to change the world. I ignored the warnings, I heard only the rumors, and I went down into the catacombs. I found her, or rather she found me. She offered to teach me, and I wanted to learn. I craved the power that only she had ever mastered. But I saw the real Caligula. The serpent beneath the mask. She wanted to destroy everything I wanted to build. I ran. And I found the two of you.”

I walked up to her and held her gaze. “One chance, Strix. One choice. I can find Caligula again without your help. But I’m offering you a place in whatever world I build.”

Strix looked away, toward the camp of ghosts.

“They’re not going to serve you without me. Try it, and you’ll lose every ounce of credibility you have.”

There was quiet. Everyone waited for her answer with bated breath.

Strix looked me in the eyes, curled her lip, and said, “No.”

She started to walk away. Cossus reached out for her. “Strix!”

“The empire is dead, old friend. I was just too blind to realize. There’s nothing for us here. It’s time to rest.”

Cossus hesitated, looked back at me, then followed her out.

I laughed. I laughed again. Manic giggles erupted from my throat as I watched the dead woman and her lackey leave. It was amusing, certainly. But I needed clarity, not laughter. I stifled my joy and forced the cold to return.

Glamour came baying at my call like a dim-witted dog, and I reached out for Strix. There was resistance, all the shields she had put up, but she was still a ghost. Still frail. I was strong. I pushed through her and read her thoughts.

She was plotting, of course. Always plotting, that one. She was going to warn Nero. Her last act of resistance. Apparently she thought I was worse than him. I didn’t care if she was right. I didn’t care if she succeeded. With Caligula’s gift, I would be unstoppable.

I let them go and said to my allies, “Come on. Let’s go find the catacombs.”

They followed. Reluctantly, but they followed. It didn’t take long for the whispers to start up; I had a feeling Caligula was watching our argument. Probably smiling. I followed the whispers through the undercity, keeping an even pace throughout. My moment was at hand, and I had no intention of slowing down.

The undercity was vast, but Caligula knew all the shortcuts. Her whispers guided us through tunnels and sewers and hidden corridors. It took an hour, maybe two, but we arrived at the catacombs.

This time, it wasn’t a tiny offshoot. We were at the proper entrance: a yawning maw leading deeper into the undercity, into the bone pits and skull-lined hallways. Two statues flanked the entrance, a man and a woman, weeping.

The whispers intensified as we neared, then stopped once I stood in front of the statues. I could feel magic radiating from them, warding magic put in place centuries ago to seal away a single prisoner. I could feel the rips in that net, the little pinpricks that let Caligula extend her influence throughout the undercity. More proof that I had made the right choice.

I stepped forward and Duncan grabbed my arm.

“Gwyn. Don’t do this.”

I stared at her. “What are you talking about?”

“Please. Remember what I said, what I promised. It doesn’t have to be this way.” There was yearning in her eyes, and fear. I reached out with glamour, brushed aside her meager defenses, and felt a painful core deep inside her, a wound that had never healed. She was fragile, and lost, and her heart bled. It bled for a thousand sorrows, and in that moment it bled for me.

I tore my arm away. “This is what needs to happen, Duncan. This is my destiny.”

She laughed, and it was closer to crying. “Fuck destiny. Think about what you’re doing. About the cost. What will you become? What if that darkness corrupts you?”

I laughed too, but mine had a spiteful edge. “Corrupts me? No, that’s not something that happens. Corruption is a nice little excuse to do the things you always wanted to do. Corruption is justification for whatever you always were.”

“I can’t believe that. I… I’ve seen good in you. I’ve seen decency. Heroism, even. You used to help people. You were the chosen one.”

I rolled my eyes. “Haven’t you gotten the big picture yet? There is no prophecy. There is no chosen one. I was just the only one strong enough to claim that title. It’s all bullshit, okay? Your religion is a lie.”

She flinched as if I’d hit her, but she kept talking. “I… I don’t care. That’s not what this is about. You’re right, the prophecy doesn’t matter. The chosen one doesn’t matter. But you were still a hero, once.”

“No, I wasn’t. And I have no intention of being a hero, ever. I’ve found my destiny. If you’re not with me in this, you’re against me. Just like Morgan, and the Council, and Strix.” My hand drifted to the hilt of my sword.

There was shock on her face, and the fear swirling around inside her head was getting thicker. “Gwyn…”

“Stop calling me that,” I snapped. “That’s the stupid name they gave me. I am Valerian. I am grand. I am powerful.”

It clicked in her head. She finally got it, the precious little idiot. Took her long enough. I was getting so tired of her misguided faith.

She turned to my last loyal follower. “Finn. Finn, say something. You know her better than I do. You can stop her. Please.”

He hesitated. He mouthed. He strained. But he just shook his head and said, “This is my place. I have nowhere else to go.”

I smiled, slowly. “He knows the value of loyalty to the powerful. You clearly don’t. So if you have such a problem with my magic, if you’re so afraid of what I might become… stop me.” I lazily drew my blade and tapped it against the ground. “Come and have a go. Maybe you finally have what it takes to be the real hero. But I don’t think so. I think you’re going to run away.”

For a moment, a single shining moment, it looked like Duncan might grow a spine. I dared to dream that she might finally be the rival I wanted. But no.

She ran.

I watched her until she was a shadow in the distance, and then I descended into the lair of my new teacher.